Short Films

(PG-13) “I know in my heart there’s a reason god keeps puttin’ him in front of me. Like I’m the one who’s supposed to do something about it, you know?” A borderline sociopath meets someone who’s way over the edge in Matt MacDonald’sGTA V short film. Making of here.

As philosopher Albert Camus said “Life is a sum of all your choices.” In Kingdom of Something’s lighthearted short, they provide some stats about how much of our lives we spend performing everyday tasks, and some of the figures might help you better allocate your time.

“Who took these?” A couple has an intense argument. And it’s all because of you. Or at least someone you know. Director Noah Levenson’s customizeable short film uses photos from an Instagram account of your choice. Choose wisely.

Daniel Warwick’s biting short film for UX and software engineering firm SEMCON rips on the marketing promise that devices that are simply connected to one another are somehow “smart,” when oftentimes they are actually less usable than their disconnected versions.

“Why the scorn? Why the surprise? Everything that’s born must die, and it isn’t I who made the world that way.” In this animated short, filmmaker Nina Paley retells God’s tenth plague on Egypt from the perspective of Death itself. A feast for the eyes and ears.

(Gore) Sigourney Weaver stars in the first short film from District 9 director Neill Blomkamp’s Oats Studios. Set in 2020, Rakka presents the invasion of Earth by a brutal alien race through different perspectives. You can support Oats by buying their films’ assets on Steam.

A scavenger combs the beach in search of objects. But what Martin finds beneath the sand is way more than what he bargained for, and he unleashes something that should have remained buried. Sholto Crow’s animated short is well worth a few minutes of your time.

“We are told often as Omnics that a soul is what defines a being. But I do not exactly agree.”Ardy [SFM]’s animated Overwatch fan film involves a brief exchange between the troubled cyborg Genji and his master, the robot monk Zenyatta.

(PG-13) In 2012, four teenage girls in a small Japanese town stole hundreds of goldfish then let the fish loose in their school’s swimming pool. Writer and director Makoto Nagahisa turned the bizarre tale into a story of teenage angst in this excellent short film.

Animator David Firth’s enthralling short film is an creepy and offbeat social commentary, as a scientist introduces us to a miracle product designed to fix anything and everything, from broken appliances to resurrecting the dead. We prefer duct tape and hot glue.

“Once you start carving, there’s no hard and fast rules.”Eyes & Ears spent 3 weeks with stone carver Anna Rubincam as she worked on a new piece. Anna has that headstrong look in her eyes that those of us who have yet to find our paths find intimidating and envious.

We were quickly enthralled by director Aritz Moreno’s technically impressive short film about a village who goes up against a man cast out due to his medical condition. Beyond its taut storyline, the single camera, single take does a brilliant job heightening the tension.

For those of you who haven’t been there, Coke is a very powerful drug. No no no, not that coke, the other one – with the caffeine. Enjoy this cautionary tale in the four minutes of ardent animation and fluid (and true) storytelling from Dress Code.

A secret agent is tasked to find out what’s going on behind a shady barber shop. Naturally, he soon finds himself getting more than he asked for. Blender’s thrilling short film is based on Martin Lodewijk’s satirical secret agent series.

Longtime friend of The Awesomer, the multitalented Nathan Barnatt is working on this short about a bounty hunter and a prisoner who end up stranded in the desert, and must find a middle ground to get out of their predicament. Show your support with a pledge on Kickstarter.

“Problems arose about several months ago, when his wife realized he can’t stop talking… like a newscaster.”Mid-Brow’s amusing short film’s simple and consistently-applied premise is what makes it work so brilliantly. And that’s the waaaaaaay the news goes.

“We are stormtroopers. You know what we do best? We die.” Three stormtroopers are in the middle of a battle when one of them sees Darth Vader enter the fray. He geeks out and insists that they all come up to him in this short but sweet fan film. Captions available.

“Armageddon – even the name twists my blood until burning oil beats through my veins.”Richard Boylan is making animated accompaniments to a Warhammer 40kaudiobook, about a group of soldiers defending a city from an endless wave of alien enemies.

(Gore) A gameplayer thinks he got a great deal on a fancy VR headset, but he gets way more than he bargained for when his virtual reality bleeds into his actual reality. Nukazooka’s short is packed with suspense and slick visuals. They should have called it “Oculus Thrift.”

“Here’s what we’re gonna do… so that the operation isn’t gross.” A group of kids literally play doctor in Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate’s charming short film, which wonderfully presents the sorts of things kids would actually say. We wonder how much of it was improvised.

A kid struggles to keep awake in class, and every time he nods off, something strange happens to him. Seoro Oh’s short film about the thoughts that run through a young person’s mind is wonderfully weird, totally relatable, and beautifully animated.

Johan Ripma’s mind-blowing animation sees him drawing a line, then imagining what it would look like if the world was made of dots that are continuously moving separately and outwards, just like the dots in the line. More on Johan’s website.

“What if they’re not better than us?” “So long as they’re no worse.” Set immediately after the events of Prometheus, this short film sums up Dr. Shaw and the android David’s journey to the homeworld of our creators, the Engineers.